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Energy

Updated Feb. 16, 1999 12:01 a.m. ET

A glut of crude oil, coupled with a warm winter, continued to hurt the oil patch. Many of the major oil companies posted losses, reflecting large asset write-downs and restructuring charges. Without one-time items, Exxon emerged with the fewest battle scars, though its profit still fell 39%. Unocal , Mobil , Phillips and Texaco all reported losses, and Atlantic Richfield suffered the most, taking $864 million in charges.

The coming year looks bleak for the sector, as commodity prices remain at record lows. With firms...